from Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, compiled by Elias Lönnrot (1880)
Seven types of origin charm — syntyloitsut — for the crafted, the elemental, and the artificed. These are the tietäjä's knowledge of how the made world came into being: how stone fell from the sky as a red ball through crimson arches; how the sorcerer fashioned arrows from a pine on Pain Mountain; how salt was born when Ukko struck fire in heaven and a spark fell into the sea; how Ilmarinen forged copper from a speckled stone that seethed like water; how Väinämöinen sang a boat into existence from one oak's bending; how the net was made from flax sown by night, soaked, beaten, hackled, spun, and woven in a single summer night; and how liquor was born from barley's bristles and fierce fire.
Where the creature charms gave the tietäjä power over animals, and the cosmogonic charms over the elements, these craft-origin charms gave power over the tools and materials of human life. The seer who knew the arrow's birth could neutralize a sorcerer's shot; the one who knew copper's origin could command the metal; the one who recited the net's birth could ensure a good catch. The Birth of Stone is especially striking — variant (a) derives stone from a lineage of cosmic mothers (Kimmahatar, Vuolahatar, Syöjätär, Mammotar), while variant (b) asks who could have known it as stone when it was still a grain of barley drifting in the clouds.
These incantations have never before appeared in English.
Kiven synty — Birth of Stone
a.
Stone is the son of Kimmo Kammo,
Egg of the earth, babe of the field,
Made by Kimmahatar,
Shaped by Vuolahatar,
Heartscrap of Syöjätär,
Liver-pipe of Mammotar,
Raised by Äijötär,
Spleen of little Joukahainen.
b.
Who knew stone as stone
When it was a grain of barley,
Rose from the earth as a strawberry,
From the tree's side as a lingonberry,
Or drifted in the clouds,
Hid within the mists,
Came to earth from the sky,
Fell as a red ball,
Tumbled as a barley husk,
Rolled as a wheat lump,
Through the pillars of cloud,
Through the arches of red?
The fool calls it stone,
Names it egg of earth.
Nuolien synty — Birth of Arrows
a.
A pine grew on the heath,
On the summit of Pain Mountain.
From it the sorcerer fashioned arrows,
The shooter made wicked weapons:
Made a one-barbed arrow
From the lowest branches,
Made a two-barbed arrow
From branches at mid-tree,
Made a three-barbed arrow
From the highest branches.
The sorcerer shot his arrows,
Hurled his bolts —
Wherever each one struck,
Nor did the sorcerer care
Whether it struck a man's skin
Or the hide of a beast.
b.
Annikki, the island maiden,
Went to the war of Ister.
A tin plug flew loose,
A silver tip broke free,
Into the cleft between two cliffs.
The sorcerer caught it by hand
Before it reached the ground,
Before it struck the earth,
Brought it to the smiths' forge.
The smith fashioned it into a tool,
Forged from it the sorcerer's arrows,
The shooter's wicked weapons.
The sorcerer shot his arrows,
Shot an arrow to the heavens —
The sky itself would split.
Suolan synty — Birth of Salt
Whence the birth of Finland's salt,
The growth of savage hail?
This is the birth of Finland's salt,
The growth of savage hail:
Ukko, god of the sky,
The great lord of the air himself,
Struck fire in the heavens —
A spark flew down into the sea,
Drifted there among the waves,
Settled into hailstone.
From that the great salts were born,
The heavy hails grew.
Vasken synty — Birth of Copper
a.
Ilmarinen himself, the smith,
That skillful forger,
Walked a road hard-pressed,
A land liver-hued,
And met a speckled stone,
A wax-headed fellow.
The smith thrust it into the fire,
Set it beneath his forge,
Blew the bellows one day, blew a second,
Blew straightway a third.
Then the smith Ilmarinen
Leaned down to look
At the underside of his forge,
At the topside of his bellows —
Already the stone seethed like water,
The wax flowed out as copper.
The smith snatched it from the fire,
The copper from beneath his forge,
And began to cast the copper,
To ring out kettles.
b.
Hilahatar, maiden of Hiisi,
Old wife of Hiisi, mare of Hiisi —
They pissed upon the cliff.
The piss dried on the cliff,
From that copper was conceived,
A basin grew,
Poured from the mountain as water,
As copper from the heat.
Veneen synty — Birth of the Boat
Steady old Väinämöinen,
The sage eternal,
Made a boat by knowledge,
Built a vessel by singing,
From the bending of one oak,
From the crumbling of one broken tree.
He carved the boat on the mountain,
Hammered it on the cliff,
Sang a song — set the bottom,
Sang another — joined the side,
Sang straightway a third
While raising the prow,
While finishing the ribs,
While fitting the planks,
While setting the gunwales,
While hewing the oarlocks.
The boat was ready at last,
Swift in its running,
Steady in the wind,
Sure against the headwind.
Verkon synty — Birth of the Net
a.
By night the flax was sown,
By moonlight the ground was ploughed,
Weeded, cleared,
Pulled and stripped,
Sharply broken,
Roughly shaken.
The flax was taken to soak,
Soon it was softened,
Swiftly lifted out,
Quickly dried.
Then it was brought home,
Soon run through the brake,
Neatly beaten,
Smoothly scraped,
Deftly hackled,
Combed in the twilight,
Soon brought to the distaff,
Quicker still to the spindle.
The sisters spin it,
The sisters-in-law wind the bobbins,
The brothers weave the net,
The in-laws set the weights.
There the bobbin turned,
The sinker swung,
Until the seine was finished,
The yarn-bundle ready,
In a single summer night,
Between two days.
The seine was finished,
The yarn-bundle ready —
A hundred fathoms at the stern,
Seven hundred at the cork-line.
b.
In the night the flax was sown,
In the night the flax was cleared,
In the night the flax was stripped,
In the night brought to water,
In the night lifted from water,
In the night the flax was beaten,
In the night the threads were spun,
In the night the nets were woven.
The nets were ready,
The seine set in order,
In a single summer night —
In half of one, at that.
The nets were woven by brothers,
Spun by sisters,
Wound by sisters-in-law,
Strung on lines by father,
Weighted with stones handsomely,
Corked with floats gracefully.
c.
Tuoni's three-fingered daughter,
Lapland's three-toothed crone,
Spun a hundred-mesh seine
In a single summer night.
Lapland's three-fingered old man,
He was the weaver of nets:
The bobbin turned in his hand,
The net-knot set itself.
He wove a hundred-mesh seine,
Flickered out a thousand-mesh one,
In a single summer night,
Between two days.
Viinan synty — Birth of Liquor
Whence was liquor born,
The fair drink grown?
From this was liquor brought to birth,
The fair drink raised:
From the bristles of young barley,
From the lashes of green grain —
Yet it is not born without water,
Nor without fierce fire.
Water made it lively,
Fire made it strong.
Colophon
Source: Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People), Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880. Sections: 14 Kiven synty (variants a–b), 26 Nuolien synty (variants a–b), 41 Suolan synty, 45 Vasken synty (variants a–b), 47 Veneen synty, 48 Verkon synty (variants a–c), 49 Viinan synty.
Translation: Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated independently from the Finnish source text (Project Gutenberg #48751, human-proofread transcription by Jari Koivisto). No prior English translation of these incantations is known to exist. Orthographic variants (Toisin:) are omitted for readability; only major variant texts from different singers and regions are included.
Note: These seven craft-origin charms reveal the tietäjä's understanding of the made world. Stone is not dead matter but a cosmic child — son of Kimmo Kammo, heartscrap of Syöjätär, spleen of Joukahainen — or else a barley-grain that fell through red arches from the sky. Salt is born from Ukko's fire striking the sea. Copper is forged by Ilmarinen himself in one variant, and in another born from the urine of Hiisi's mare drying on a cliff — the high and low origins held side by side without contradiction. The Birth of the Boat (Veneen synty) is one of the most celebrated passages in Finnish oral poetry: Väinämöinen singing a vessel into existence from one oak's bending, each song setting the bottom, joining the side, raising the prow. The Birth of the Net (Verkon synty) is the finest process-charm in the collection — every step of linen-making from sowing through soaking, beating, hackling, spinning, and weaving compressed into a single summer night. Together with the previously translated origin charms for creatures, elements, and cosmic forces, these complete the tietäjä's encyclopaedic knowledge of how all things came to be.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text
Finnish source text from Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), Project Gutenberg #48751. Presented here for reference, study, and verification. Orthographic variants (Toisin:) are omitted for readability.
Kiven synty
a.
Kivi on Kimmon Kammon poika,
Maan muna, kakara pellon,
Kimmahattaren tekemä,
Vuolahattaren vanuma,
Syöjättären syänkäpynen,
Mammottaren maksan piippu,
Äijöttären kasvattama,
Perna pienen Joukahaisen.
b.
Ken kiven kiveksi tiesi,
Kun oli otraisna jyvänä,
Nousi maasta mansikkana,
Puun kylestä puolukkana,
Taikka häilyi hattarassa,
Piili pilvien sisässä,
Tuli maahan taivahasta,
Putosi punakeränä,
Kaaloi kakraisna kapuna,
Vieri vehnäisnä mykynä,
Läpi pilvipatsahien,
Puhki kaarien punaisten,
Hullu huutavi kiveksi,
Maan munaksi mainitsevi.
Nuolien synty
a.
Honka kasvoi kankahalla,
Kipuvuoren kukkulalla,
Tuosta noita nuolet laati,
Ampuja pahat asehet:
Teki nuolen yksikannan
Oksista alimmaisista,
Teki nuolen kaksikannan
Oksista kes'ellä puuta,
Teki nuolen kolmikannan
Oksista ylimmäisistä;
Ampui noita nuoliansa,
Äikytti äkähiänsä,
Minkä minnekki osasi,
Eihän noita tuosta huoli,
Käykö ihmisen iho'on,
Tahi karvahan kapehen.
b.
Annikki on Saaren neiti
Kävi Isteron sotoa,
Kirposi tinainen tilke,
Hopeinen pääte pääsi,
Kahen kallion lomahan,
Sen noita käsin tavotti
Ennen maahan ehtimistä,
Mantuhun rupeamista,
Vei sen seppojen pajahan.
Sen seppo kaluksi laati,
Takoi tuosta noian nuolet,
Ampujan pahat asehet;
Ampui noita nuoliansa,
Ampui nuolen taivosehen,
Tahtoi taivonen haleta.
Suolan synty
Mist' on synty Suomen suolan,
Kasvanta rajun rakehen?
Tuost' on synty Suomen suolan,
Kasvanta rajun rakehen:
Ukko taivahan jumala,
Itse ilman suuri herra,
Iski tulta taivahassa,
Kyven kirposi merehen,
Sepä aalloissa ajeli,
Rakeheksi raukieli;
Siitä syntyi suuret suolat,
Kasvoi raskahat rakehet.
Vasken synty
a.
Itse seppo Ilmarinen,
Tuo on taitava takoja,
Kävi tietä tiukamaista,
Maata maksan karvallista,
Tuli kirjava kivonen,
Vahatukko vastahansa,
Sen seppo tulehen tunki,
Alle ahjonsa asetti,
Lietsoi päivän, lietsoi toisen,
Lietsoi kohta kolmannenki.
Siitä seppo Ilmarinen
Kallistihe katsomahan
Ahjonsa alisen puolen,
Päälispuolen lietsimensä,
Jo kivi vetenä velloi,
Vaha vaskena valuvi.
Seppo tempasi tulesta,
Vasken alta ahjoksensa,
Alkoi vaskea valella,
Kattiloita kaikutella.
b.
Hilahatar Hiitten neito,
Hiien eukko, Hiien tamma,
Nuo kusivat kalliolle,
Kusi kuivi kalliolla,
Siitä vaskeksi sikesi,
Kasariksi kasvaeli,
Valui vuoresta vetenä,
Kuparina kuumoksesta.
Veneen synty
Vaka vanha Väinämöinen,
Tietäjä ijän-ikuinen,
Teki tieolla venettä,
Laati purtta laulamalla,
Yhen tammen taittumista,
Puun murskan murenemista.
Veisti vuorella venettä,
Kalkutteli kalliolla,
Lauloi virren, pohjan puutti,
Lauloi toisen, laian liitti,
Lauloi kohta kolmannenki
Kokkia kohentaessa,
Päitä kaaren päätellessä,
Liitellessänsä limiä,
Pannessansa parraspuita,
Hankoja hakatessansa.
Sai venonen valmihiksi,
Jok' oli liukas juoksennalta
Sekä tuulessa tukeva,
Vastatuulessa varava.
Verkon synty
a.
Yöllä liina kylvettihin,
Kuutamolla kynnettihin,
Perattihin, koirittihin,
Nyhettihin, riivittihin,
Terävästi temmottihin,
Rotevasti rohkittihin.
Liina vietihin likohon,
Sai pian lionneheksi,
Nopeasti nostettihin,
Kiirehesti kuivattihin;
Tuosta tuotihin kotihin,
Pian luista luistettihin,
Loteasti loukuttihin,
Lipeästi lipsuttihin,
Hapeasti harjattihin,
Hämysillä häpsittihin,
Joutui kohta kuontalolle,
Välehemmin värttinälle.
Sen sisaret ketreävät,
Kälykset kävylle lyövät,
Veljet verkoksi kutovat,
Apet ainoille panevat.
Siinäkös käpynen kääntyi,
Palautui painopalko,
Kun sai nuotta valmihiksi,
Lankapakla laaituksi,
Yhtenä kesäisnä yönä,
Kahen päivyen kesissä.
Saipa nuotta valmihiksi,
Lankapakla laaituksi,
Perältä satoa syltä,
Siulat seitsentä satoa.
b.
Yössä liinat kylvettihin,
Yössä liinat koirittihin,
Yössä liinat riivittihin,
Yössä vietihin vetehen,
Yössä veestä nostettihin,
Yössä liinat loukuttihin,
Yössä rihmat kehrättihin,
Yössä verkot ku'ottihin.
Saipa verkot valmihiksi,
Sai nuotta selystetyksi,
Yhtenä kesäisnä yönä,
Vielä puolessa sitäki;
Verkot on veljesten kutomat,
Sisaresten kehreämät,
Kälysten käpyelemät,
Ison pauloille panemat,
Sen kivestivät somasti,
Lau'ustivat laatusasti.
c.
Tuonen tyttö kolmisormi,
Lapin akka kolmihammas,
Kehräsi sataisen nuotan
Yhtenä kesäisnä yönä,
Lapin ukko kolmisormi
Se oli verkkojen kutoja;
Sen kääntyi käpy käessä,
Sopeusi verkon solmu:
Kutovi sataisen nuotan,
Tuhantisen tuikutteli,
Yhtenä kesäisnä yönä,
Kahen päivyen välissä.
Viinan synty
Mist' on viina syntynynnä,
Juoma kaunis kasvanunna?
Tuost' on viina synnytetty,
Juoma kaunis kasvatettu,
Okahista nuoren otran,
Ripsistä vihannan viljan,
Vaan se ei ve'että synny,
Eikä tuimatta tuletta,
Vesi sen saatti virkeäksi,
Tuli tuimaksi rakensi.
Source Colophon
Finnish source text from Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880). Transcription from Project Gutenberg #48751, human-proofread by Jari Koivisto, converted from ISO-8859-1 to UTF-8. The original 1880 publication is in the public domain. Only major variant texts are reproduced here; orthographic variants (Toisin:) are preserved in the full source file at Project Gutenberg. Presented for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
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